Chicago sets up a committee to look at Lucas museum Presidio rejected

It’s official: Chicago is serious about wooing filmmaker George Lucas to build his museum of populist art in the Windy City.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Thursday appointed a 12-person committee to hunt down “the best potential location for the proposed museum, and to explore possible investments by the museum to enhance surrounding public space,” the city said in a statement. Emanuel also wants any Lucas museum to “maximize the potential to provide educational opportunities to youth, and not require taxpayer dollars.”

Neither of those factors is a deal-breaker: The “Star Wars” creator was prepared to spend $700 million to build and endow a museum at Crissy Field to hold his collection of work that ranges from Norman Rockwell to digital animation. He argued that his museum would attract young people to the Presidio who otherwise might not find their way to the huge park at the foot of the Golden GateBridge.

Emanuel wants to hear back from the committee by mid-May, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Back on our shores, the Presidio Trust — which in February rejected bids by Lucas and two other teams for eight acres facing Crissy Field — has offered Lucas a site near the Letterman Digital Arts Center office compound he developed there a decade ago.

But Lucas backer Mayor Ed Lee hasn’t made any public overtures to Lucas regarding a home for the museum within the city itself. Nor have there been moves by other elected officials who fired off letters on Lucas’ behalf — a high-voltage crowd that includes Gov. Jerry Brown, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Nancy Pelosi.

Sometimes, apparently, it’s easier to tell other people what to do than to try and get the ball rolling yourself.